Cutting Room for January 25

I may not know whether The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia takes place in Connecticut or Georgia, but I do know it will premiere in Omaha! Specifically, on Thursday Jan. 31 at midnight, Aksarben Cinema(aksarbencinema.com) will premiere the film, and director Tom Elkins (an Omaha native) will be signing autographs, introducing the film and do a Q&A (my first question may have something to do with geography). Even if you aren’t a fan of demonic possession (but, come on, who isn’t), it sounds like a great event at a great theater!

On Thursday January 24, at approximately 4 o’clock, the great Nerd Civil War of 2013 began. JJ Abrams took a machete and cut the still-beating heart out of millions of living human beings. Which is to say, it was announced that Abrams would leave the Star Trek franchise to direct Star Wars Episode VII. Even Judas looked up from hell and said “dick move, man.” The fact is that Abrams is about the most perfect choice for the gig. Don’t take my word on it; take Steven Spielberg’s word on it because that’s what he said. As someone who has never understood the silly feud between the fans of these two sci-fi series, I’m pleased as punch. Getting a director who loves the series, has a handle on big-budgets and seems to only want to please fans isn’t worth committing whatever the Klingon or Jedi equivalent of suicide is.

Proof that less can be more, January Jones, the black hole of suck that sat around in X-Men: First Class, says she’s not likely to be back for the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Present. That’s really too bad, as I am a gigantic fan of soulless, wooden dialogue and hollow staring. It’s why I DVR-ed the Manti Te’o/Katie Couric interview.

Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on Movieha!, a weekly half-hour movie podcast (movieha.libsyn.com/rss), catch him on the radio on CD 105.9 (cd1059.com) on Fridays at around 7:30 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 (KVNO.org) at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays and follow him on Twitter (twitter.com/thereaderfilm).